Railroad-crossing.



W. G. NICHOLS.

-RAILROAD CROSSING.

. APPLICATION FILED DEGIZI, 1914.

Patented Feb. 9, 1915.

INVEAVITOI? W'sZey 61%072021' ATTORNEY WuGL' NICHOLS.

RAILROAD CROSSING.

. 1 APPLICATION FILED B502, 914, 1 127 495 Patented F6119, 1915 2SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WITNESSES v INVENTOR I By I I I C AITO/MIEY UNITED STATES PATENT once.

WESLEY G. NICHOLS, OF CHICAGO HEIGHTS, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR T0 EDGAR ALLENAMERICAN MANGANESE STEEL COMPANY, OF AUGUSTA, MAINE, A CORPORATION OFMAINE.

RAILROAD-CROSSING.

Specification 0! Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. i), 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WESLEY G. NICHOLS, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Chicago Hei hts, in the county of Cook and State of Ilinois, have made and invented certain new and useful Improvements inRailroad-Crossings, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improvement in railroad crossings and moreparticularly to the construction of intersections constituting the same.By reason of the inherent characteristics of toughness and hardness ofmanganese steel, an the consequent long life and en erior wearingqualities of the same, it is esirable to use such metal in theconstruction thereof, and to make the intersection of as small a numberof parts as possible, due to the fact that it IS extremely diflicult todrill or machine the same. have experimented to a considerable extent incasting these intersections in one piece, but have found that due to thepeculiar action of the intersections in service, the fati ue pointoccurs at the center of the casting, where the rails intersect and wherethe steel is most rigid, and at these points most frequently occur thebreaks and fractures, the same taking place before the balance of thecasting is to any appreciable extent impaired or injured. To overcomethis defect the thickness of the casting was materially increased at thecenter. which in measure obviated difiiculties, but without tallyeliminating the same. In the reinorcing of the center of the castings. alarge amount of metal was used, which, of course, adds materially to thecost. and at the same time imparts to the intersection a rigidity fargreater than that which has proved to be the best practice. Furthermoreit is unadvisable to reinforce the center of the intersection to suchextent as to give a sufficient amount of metal to add the necessarystrength to prevent its breaking or cracking in service, because of theformation of what is usually terir ed an unequivalent section, by whichis meant, a section of varying thickness, frr instance, a sectiontapering from approximately four inches at its center to a one inch end,which occurs approximately midway between the two adjacent elements ofintersections of the complete crossing. The difiicultv encountered inthe casting of such a section lies in the compensation which must bemade for shrinkage, and almost impossible task of uniformly densityingall portions of the casting when feeding from one point, without usingan excessive amount of metal. The foregom is particularly characteristicof casting o manganese steel which has a shrinkage nearly double that ofother forms of steel.

In designing my im roved crossing I have aimed to avoid the a ovementioned objections, and with these and other objects in view, theinvention consists in certain novel features of construction of parts aswill be hereinafter described in claims, it being noted that changes inthe precise embodiment of the invention can be made within the scope ofwhat is claimed, without departin from the spirit of the invention.

In t c drawings accompanying this specification and forming a partthereof, the preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated.

Figure 1 is a view in plan of two connected intersections embodying myinvention, and constituting one-half of a crossing. Fig. 2 is anenlarged plan view of an intersection. Fig. 3 is a view in verticalsection taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a similar view takenon the line 4--4. Fig. 5 is a view in top plan of the lower orsupporting member of an intersection. Fig. (l is a view in perspectivetaken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 5. Fig. 7 is a view in top plan of asomewhat modified form of intersection. Figs. 8 and 9 are sectionalviews taken on the lines 8 and 9 respectively of Fig. 7. Fig. 10 is aview in perspective of the supporting member of the modified form ofintersection.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designatecorresponding parts throughout the several views. the crossing is madeup of four intersections, identical throughout. in view of which. onlyone will he treated in detail. Each intersection includes a supportingbase 15 from which project the crossed filler bars 16. the same risingupwardlv from the. plate and formed or cast integral therewith. A castmember 18, rests upon the base plate and constitutes crossed andconnected rails, 19. these rails being provided with the longitudinallyextending and crossed channels 20. dividing the rails into the wearingportions 21, andguards 22. The central porslots 23,1are formed 'a littlelonger than the filler bars which are contained'thereim defining openspaces 24: between the ends of the slots and filler bars, allowing 'forthe flexing or bending of the parts constituting the'intersection. g

The main wearing portions of the crossed rails are cored as illustratedat 25 in Fig.4,

. producing a casting of nearly unifiorm or equivalent sectionthroughout, the same being of such prime importance in manganese steelcastings. In order to brace and strengthen the cross-rail memberorcasting, the elbows at 26 are utilized, the same being positionedagainst the webs of the rails and disposed intermediate the heads andflanges thereof. The filler bars and if'FOSS-Ifill members are providedwith suitable apertures 28 and 29 through which thebolts 30 extend.

' thus providing for the eilicient securement of the base and cross-railmeinber. T he ap ertures within the filler bars jare of a sufficientsize to allow'a slight relative flexingof the two above'mentionedmembers without danger of shearing or fracturing the holding boltsl Inorder-to more positively secure the cross-rail memberto'the support-'ing plate. the clamps 31 areemploved. and. as illustrated in Fig. 4.aresecurelv bolted to the base'plate and engage the flanges ofthecross-rail member. 'Thgratest wear upon an intersection occurs at themeeting corners of the crossed rails and causes the discarding of themore expensive part of the intersectiom'that is. the cross-rail member.In order to. obviate this. the adiacent corners of the cross-rail memberare cut away as indicated by' thelines 32. and suitable inserts 33 oftheexact size and shape of the removed portions are formed integral withthe base plate 15 andfiller bars 16. After the adiacent corners 33 ofthe crossedirails become worn, the sup orting base is discarded and anew base with inserts is substitu ed therefor, thus materiallyincreasing the life,

of the intersection and reducing its cost of upkeep.

The formation of .filler 'bars or ribs 16 upon the base plate materiallystrengthens the same, but does not impair the resiliency of theassembled intersection. The formation of the filler bars upon the baseplate, and the-removal. of acorresponding amount of metal from thecenter of the cross-rail member, provide for the casting of manganese.steel under .most favorable conditions, that is, in'equivalent sections.The

intersections are joinedby the rail lengths 34"prefer'ably cast integraltherewith as dis closed in Fig. 1. Two extremities of the rails of eachintersection are prolonged as at 35 and form attaching ends to which theextremities of rails maybe secured, The somewhat modified form ofintersection disclosed in Figs. 7 to- 10 inclusive is modified to theeffect, only, that the corner inserts 33 are omitted.

Having thus fully described my inven tion what I claim is i 1. Acrossing intersectioncomprising a supporting member including a baseplate with crossed upstanding filler bars, and a top member includingcrossed runways, said runways adapted to receive said filler bars jtherein.

2. A crossing intersection comprising a base plate with upstandingcrossed filler bars. and a. detachable member resting upon said plateand includingrunways.

3. A crossinginterseetion comprising a base ,plate with crossed fillerbars. and a cross-rail member provided with slots ex tending entirelytherethrough and adapted to receive said filler bars. I

4. A crossing intersection comprising a base plate with crossed fillerbars. and a cross-rail member provided with slotsextending entirelytherethrough adapted to receive said filler bars. and holding meansextending through said filler barsandcrossrail member.

5. A cast manganese steel crossing intersection comprising a base memberincluding upstanding crossed ribs. a cross-rail member provided withslots receiving. said ribs therein.

6. A cast manganese steel pressing intersection comprisinga base memberincluding upstanding crossed ribs. a cross-rail member provided withslots receiving said ribs therein. said slots relatively longer than thecontained ribs.

7. A cast manganese steel crossing intersection comprising a base memberincluding upstanding c ossed ribs. a cross-rail memher provided withslots'receivjng said ribs therein. said slots relatively longer than thecontained ribs. and holding means extending through said filler barsand, cross-rail member.

8. A crossing intersection comprising a supporting memberineludingfiller bars. a cross-rail member provided with longitudinalgrooves. the .sa'id groo 'es adjacent the mergeee ed. to receive saidfiller bars therein, the sen tral portions of said grooves reletiveiylonger than the said filler bars.

10. A crossingintersection comprising a supporting member includingupstanding rlbs, a cross-rail member provided with slots adapted toreceive said ribs therein, said supportingmember provided withupstanding corner inserts projecting Within recesses. .7

11. A crossmg intersect on comprising a supporting member, a cross-railmember bolted thereto, said supporting member including upstandingcorner inserts extending Within openings provided therefor in adjacentcorners of said cross-rail member.

12. A,s'1 1pporting member for a built up crossingintersection'comprlsmg a base plate with upstmiding cressedintegraifiller bars,

the center of sziid fiiiemhnrs adapted to cor--- respond to the centerof the intersection member, Whiehsaid base-plate is adapted support. I

13. A crossing intersection comprising a.

base plate provided with integral filler bars, '1. and a rail memberformed of 2, single east.-

WESLEY e. NreHoLs- Witnesses:

CHARLES FAHLs'rnoM, MARY LA ZELLE.

